Diagnosis of mange-causing mites in wild carnivores

• Grant number: 25/05498-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: September 01, 2025
• End date: August 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Preventive Veterinary Medicine
• Principal Investigator: Estevam Guilherme Lux Hoppe
• Grantee: Renata Lino Zoadelli
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias (FCAV). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Jaboticabal. Jaboticabal , SP, Brazil

Abstract

As the anthropization of biome regions advances in Brazilian territory, its negative impacts on various ecosystems also increase, as can be seen, for example, with the increase in species of wild carnivores that suffer from the loss of their habitats, increasing the rate of these animals being run over on highways in the interior of southeastern Brazil. Furthermore, ecotone regions can also bring harm to humans and domesticated animals, since parasitic exchange between these species and wild animals intensifies in these cases. Scabies is an example of a disease that can occur through this exchange, as it can only be transmitted between wild and domestic species, such as otodectic mange; or be transmitted by zoonotic species, generating scabies infestation in humans as well, as in the case of sarcoptic and notohedral mange. Therefore, it is essential to study focusing on diagnosing the presence of mites that cause mange in animals living in a peri-urban environment, aiming to collect epidemiological data on mange in the studied region, and thus enrich knowledge about the disease in these areas, providing useful information in the public health context, which can control the spread of zoonoses and improve the well-being of all species involved.